The most beautiful lady in the harem

Zhenyi Garden is a small, remote garden in the palace, but it has curled eaves, pavilions and bamboos. Although the trees are dead in winter, the yellow and green glazed tiles are as shiny as new, giving off an atmosphere of prosperity and wealth.

Qin Liuse and several maids stood silently in the dark, and heard another voice saying, "Otherwise why do I say that you are empty-headed? You were favored. Of course you were favored in the past, otherwise how could you become the fourth concubine? But now is different from the past. Concubine De is old, and there are so many beauties in the palace. When the emperor looks at her face again, he will find her boring again."

Such a tone is arrogant and conceited.

Aunt Mingyue leaned close to Qin Liuse's ear and whispered, "Jieyu, this should be Lady Yang from Cuiwei Pavilion."

Qin Liuse nodded slightly. Aunt Mingyue had an excellent memory and had never made a mistake in this regard. She was meticulous and careful and knew almost all the nobles in the palace. Qin Liuse trusted her very much.

She and Aunt Mingyue looked at each other and thought the same thing: there were actually such stupid people in the palace who thought that this place was remote and no one would hear them gossiping behind their backs.

Little did they know that there was no place in the harem that was completely leak-proof.

The other side was saying, "The beauty is right. There is no shortage of beauties in this palace. Like our beauty, we are young and beautiful. I should say something that I shouldn't say. If the beauty stands next to the Concubine De, she will be outshined in an instant."

Qin Liuse sneered in her heart. Although Concubine De was not considered a beauty, her demeanor was graceful and elegant. How could Concubine Yang compare to her?

It’s fine that Concubine Yang thinks too highly of herself, but how come she’s just a little palace maid and she seems to have no eyes?

However, flattery never wears out. It is not easy to be a servant, and it is even more difficult to please the master. Qin Liuse expressed his understanding.

The young palace maid said a few more words, and Lady Yang said, "I heard that Concubine De often claimed to be sick, and the Jingshifang didn't even put her name card up, so how could she be favored?"

"Why is Concubine De so depressed that she even removed her own signboard?" the maid exclaimed.

"Who knows? Maybe she takes herself too seriously and the emperor doesn't want to pay attention to her anymore."

Qin Liuse was speechless when she heard this. Regardless of whether she was favored or not, at least in the previous life, even though Qin Huaijin became the queen, Defei was still safe and sound and sat on the position of the four concubines.

This is enough to show that Emperor Yongjia treated her well and that Concubine Xiao De was not a stupid person.

As for this beautiful lady Yang, Qin Liuse didn't see her till the end.

Stupid people are more likely to call others stupid.

For example, this Concubine Yang has a rather delicate appearance. Since she entered the palace, she has been imitating the person whom Emperor Yongjia favors because she knows who he favors.

For example, when he first entered the palace, Emperor Yongjia visited Concubine Ning Shufei and Concubine Wen's palaces more often, and Concubine Yang was just a small concubine at that time, so she learned to dress like Concubine Wen.

When Concubine Wen put on her eyebrow makeup, Yang Da Ying also did it, but she didn't know that Concubine Wen also learned it from Concubine Ning Shufei.

Everyone wants to be Xi Shi, but they end up ending up like Dong Shi.

Among these people, the one who stood the highest and longest was Consort Ning Shu. It can be seen that blindly imitating others is not enough.

Qin Liuse, Mingyue, Qingqing and Zijin stayed in the corridor for a while. When they stopped talking about this topic, they pretended to pass by and walked out.

As soon as he walked out, he saw a slender woman wearing a light red palace dress and pearls and jade on her head sitting in the pavilion, her face full of pride.

Who else could it be if not Lady Yang?

The palace maid beside her also looked indignant before she could see who was coming.

But after all, a higher-ranking official can crush a lower-ranking official. Lady Yang's rank was lower than Qin Liuse's. When she saw Qin Liuse approaching, she narrowed her eyes, stood up, stepped aside, bowed, and called out, "Hello, Concubine Qin."

Qin Liuse did not leave immediately as they thought she was just passing by. Instead, she stopped in the pavilion and smiled, "I just came from afar and heard Concubine Yang talking about Concubine De. I don't know what they were talking about."

The little palace maid's face suddenly became panic-stricken. She stared at the ground and twisted the handkerchief in her hands. She wondered if Concubine Qin had heard everything they said.

Concubine Yang's eyes showed a little timidity, but she collected her thoughts and remained calm. She calculated their pace in her mind. They had been chatting for a while while while Concubine De had been gone, and she must not have heard anything when she came over.

Then she smiled and replied, "When I saw the true appearance of Concubine De the other day, I thought she was as beautiful as a fairy, so I was just talking about this."

The maid also nodded repeatedly.

Qin Liuse smiled faintly and said, "It is natural for Concubine De to do so. She entered the Emperor's palace because of her beauty."

"Concubine Yang entered the palace late, so she probably didn't know that Concubine De was good at dancing. She was practicing dancing in the palace garden at that time and accidentally fell, and happened to fall on the emperor. That's how she won the emperor's heart, and he asked the late emperor to bring her back to the palace."

Concubine Yang entered the palace after Emperor Yongjia ascended the throne, so she naturally didn't know these things and was a little surprised when she heard this. She only knew that Concubine De was just a palace maid before and was asked by the Ninth Prince from the late Emperor, so she felt a little disdainful of her.

I didn't know there were such stories. Now I feel a little more confident.

If someone without any roots or foundation can be loved, it means he has some natural ability.

Seeing that she was convinced, Qin Liuse didn't say anything more and went to Ci'en Temple with her maid.

As soon as Qin Liuse left, Lady Yang said to the maid next to her, "Isn't she just one rank higher than me? Why are you so proud? Did you see the way she looked at me just now?"

"That's not true." The maid and Lady Yang said in unison, "But one day, our lady will be able to be on equal footing with that Concubine Qin."

Lady Yang glared at her and immediately changed her words, "I am confused. Lady Yang will definitely be ranked above her."

Concubine Yang then smiled smugly and was helped by the maid to sit down again. "The emperor favored her for a while before. Look how proud she is. Which favored concubine in the palace is not like this? Yesterday in the queen's palace, she was so pretentious that the emperor didn't even look at her. She is not as good as Concubine De."

"As soon as Concubine De asked for mercy, the Emperor agreed."

-

Qin Liuse and his three servants were standing behind a rockery not far away, and they heard everything Concubine Yang said.

Qingqing was impatient and wanted to rush out when she heard this.

Aunt Mingyue and Zijin immediately grabbed her, winked at her and shook their heads.

"Don't argue." Qin Liuse walked away. Aunt Mingyue and Zijin, one on each side, supported Qingqing and walked forward.

After a cup of tea, the four finally arrived at Ci'en Temple.

Although Ci'en Temple is not big, its flying eaves and brackets are shining with golden light, and it is extremely magnificent.

Since they were in the inner garden of the imperial palace, there was naturally no man with roots.

The current abbot of the temple is Master Mingjing, who has been in the deep palace for thirty years.

Qin Liuse bowed respectfully to Master Mingjing, and then handed the copied scriptures to her.

"Amitabha, Buddha is merciful. Concubine Jieyu is kind-hearted. I will recite the sutras for three days for the sutras that Concubine Jieyu copied. There is a custom in the palace that all sutras prepared for the emperor, empress and queen mother must be presented to the Buddhist temple for three days of bathing. After three days, Concubine Jieyu can come and take them away."

Master Mingjing talked for a while, and Qin Liuse bowed respectfully before leading the maid to leave.

-

Back at Shuyuexuan, Qingqing recalled what Concubine Yang said in the garden today. While massaging Qin Liuse's hands, she couldn't help but ask, "Jieyu, do you think the emperor really dislikes Concubine De?"

Qin Liuse had been copying scriptures with both hands these past two days, and her shoulders were very sore from copying. Upon hearing this, she slightly opened her eyes and looked at her, "Nonsense, how is it possible?"

"Didn't Lady Yang say..."

Qin Liuse felt that Qingqing's brain needed to be carefully analyzed and said to her, "You, you believe everything you hear. Your brain can be easily led astray by others."

Qin Liuse said calmly, "If the emperor treated her mercilessly, do you think she would still be the Defei now?"

"But who knows what kind of life she lives behind the scenes?" Qingqing rubbed every slender finger of Qin Liuse, not quite convinced.

Take Shu Yuexuan for example these days. Concubine Qin had not been favored by the emperor for a while, and the emperor punished her to copy scriptures. Those snobbish people were more observant than each other. The chrysanthemums sent by the Shanggong Bureau were getting smaller and smaller. They were not like at the beginning, when one complete chrysanthemum could make a pot of water.

On the surface, Qin Liuse is still a concubine, but who knows whether her life is good or not?

Qin Liuse wanted to laugh when she saw Qingqing's expression.

"The Emperor has never treated her harshly. Regardless of whether he favored her in the past or not, or whether he favors her now or not, the share that De Fei should have will always be the same, and it will not be reduced at all."

This was the conclusion Qin Liuse came to after observing in the imperial city for so many years in her previous life, and it was also the reason why she chose to stay in the imperial city and be the woman of Emperor Yongjia in this life.

Whether a man is good or not should not only be judged by how good he is to you when you are in love with him, but also by how he treats those women who have lost his favor.

Based on this point alone, Qin Liuse dared to say that no man in the world could compare to Emperor Yongjia.

Take the concubines of ordinary families for example. If the master gets tired of playing with them, they can be sold for silver at any time, or given to friends to play with, or exchanged for any objects, such as books, vases, or even a horse.

And there are those who offer their concubines and singing girls to be played with by a group of men... Qin Liuse cannot accept it.

The thought of a man giving his woman to his brothers made her sick to her stomach.

But Emperor Yongjia will not do that. As long as you don't do anything out of line, even if he is no longer interested in you, he will still give you the wealth and glory you deserve.

As for what Qingqing said, these were not what she should have enjoyed in the first place. It was only because she was favored and the Shanggong Bureau flattered her that she was given the share that did not belong to her.

Qin Liuse touched her hair. In her previous life, Concubine De was indeed a non-competitive person, but she had always lived a good life.

Qingqing nodded after hearing this, "Jieyu is still very insightful. I really can't figure this out."

Qin Liuse smiled and glared at Qingqing, "You're starting to flatter me again."

Qingqing stuck out her tongue, "I'm just not as smart as Jieyu!"

-

For the next two days, Qin Liuse recuperated in Shu Yuexuan. When she was bored, she would go for a walk in the garden to relax. She would wait for the empress dowager to take out the scriptures before visiting her.

Qin Liuse sent someone to the Queen's palace to inquire, and was relieved to hear that the Queen's health was getting better and better.

But he couldn't help but think that his actions that day seemed to have prolonged the Queen's life.

So good.

Emperor Yongjia did not hire anyone to serve him during the past two days, nor did he summon Qin Liuse, and Qin Liuse was also happy and at ease.

That day, she was walking back from the Queen's Palace and passing by the garden when she saw Zhu Wanxi walking hurriedly past.

Qin Liuse quickly grabbed him and asked, "What's the matter, Eunuch Zhu."

Zhu Wanxi said anxiously, "Hey, Qin Jieyu, if only the concubines in the harem could be half as worry-free as you."

After flattering the emperor, Zhu Wanxi got back to the point, "I don't know what Concubine Yang was thinking. She was actually practicing dancing in the garden next to the Queen. The Emperor originally thought she was rehearsing the dance for the New Year's Eve family dinner, but who knew that this dance would last the entire afternoon. When the Emperor walked past the garden, Concubine Yang even threw herself on him."

"The Emperor immediately reprimanded Concubine Yang for being ungrateful, selfish, and making noise while the Empress was still recovering from her illness. I am here to pass on the Emperor's order to have Concubine Yang confined to the palace for a month to pray for the Empress."

Qin Liuse laughed when she heard this. She deserved it. She planned this to repay Concubine Xiao De for speaking for her that day.